Aha Moment: Hamlet

A listener named Jeff House told us about his revelation experience with Hamlet. As a teenager he watched the Christopher Plummer film on TV with his big sister, who was enthralled; House was nonplussed. “The language didn’t make sense,” he remembers. The hero was all doom and gloom, consumed by questions about the nature of existence. “I couldn’t figure out what Hamlet’s whole concern was. … I thought he was ‘much ado about nothing.’”

Then, in his early 20s, House had a trauma of his own. He lost his first serious relationship and his faith — and with that, the support of his family. “I remember having a strong sense that I had failed.” One day, at a community theater, he found himself sitting in the audience for Hamlet. He chose the back row, figuring he’d slip out when he got bored. Instead, “I was stunned. I was watching my life on stage — and I wanted to see what happened.”

One of Hamlet’s famous lines is a personal motto for House: “The readiness is all.”

→ Is there a play, book, song, or other work of art that has changed your life? Tell us in a comment or by email.

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About Studio 360

The Peabody Award-winning show and podcast about creativity, pop culture, the arts and ideas hosted by novelist and journalist (and “Spy” magazine co-founder) Kurt Andersen. Email the show at studio360@wnyc.org.
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Studio 360 is a co-production of WNYC Radio and PRI and is funded in part by Ken and Lucy Lehman and the National Endowment for the Arts. Studio 360's American Icons series is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Our Science and Creativity series is supported in part by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

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